Top 25 PC games at IGN

[Surgey]

Well, at least they didn't put any games that aren't out yet on there.

 

[sqeecoo]

Actually, a fairly good list. Although Rome: Total War had atrociously bad AI, and Civ4 sucks compared to SMAC, and tie fighter should be replaced with PST. They should probably add in TLJ somewhere too. And Half-life 1. Wait, there is no PST on the list? What a stupid list, then.

You have to keep TIE Fighter on there. It is a better game than PST.

I would have respect for a list with:

5: Fallout
4: PST
3: TIE Fighter
2: SMAC
1: X-Com

or any order of those games.

Perhaps you are right. I seem to remember playing tie fighter when I was a kid, and that it was good.

Agreed, RTW sucked, although Rome: total realism makes is playable. HL2 is great, although I prefer HL, but it is one of the few newer games that is actually innovative and made with care and skill. I agree, too many RTS, starcraft and a total war game, along with SMAC would have been enough. Did I miss the sims? I don't enjoy it too much, but the innovative theme, approach and gameplay, and the quality of the game (money grabbing expansions notwithstanding) should warrant its inclusion.

 

[Greenskin13]

Once more, the battle continues

I'm very pleased to see that Sid Meier's Pirates! made it into the list. Sometimes I feel that it doesn't get enough praise, even though it was one of Sid's greatest games. Light enough to pick up and go, and fun enough to be enjoyed for hours.

Time for a reinstall for me.

 

[filogreek]

Everyone thinks these top-XXX lists are complete bullshit anyway, they never please everyone.

Editor in chief at IGN had this to say in a thread on the IGN Insider Boards:

Yeah, we knew we wouldnt please everyone with the list. It's basically impossible. The only thing we could do was please ourselves, and as you might imagine, we're very good at that.

There are no crap games on that list, whatever way you look at it. These are all games we'd recommend immediately to anyone who has an inkling of love for PC gaming. And unfortunately, there's quite a few that we would also recommend immediately that aren't on the list. No matter what we use, it's all over.

As for there being WW2 games above others, who gives a crap? Yeah, there are too many WW2 games, but the setting has little to do with how quality those titles are. Call of Duty was an awesome and exciting game, regardless of the heavy scripting and had one of the best twitch multiplayer components on the market. Battlefield was brilliantly addictive and Company of Heroes basically did the impossible by actually making me interested in World War II again (no matter how many WW2 games you've played, I've unfortunately played more, I guarantee it) along with providing the most intense RTS experience ever created, regardless setting.

Some come on then, let's see your lists! I want to see what you guys would put as your Top 25. We had to narrow ours down from around 75 nominees so I'd recommend you start by trying to think up as many as you can and work from there. Here's our initial list of nominated titles though I'm sure you guys would have some of your own that aren't on ours:

Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
Alone in the Dark
Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
Bard's Tale
Battlefield 1942
C&C Red Alert
C&C Red Alert 2
Call of Duty
Civilization 2
Civ 4
Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord
Company of Heroes
Crimson Skies
Deus Ex
Diablo
Doom
Duke Nukem 3D
Dune 2: The Building of a Dynasty
ES4: Oblivion
Elite
EverQuest
Fallout
Fallout 2
Flight Simulator
Freedom Force
Gabriel Knight
Grim Fandango
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Homeworld
IL-2 Sturmovik
King's Quest
Mafia
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
Master of Magic
Master of Orion
Master of Orion 2
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medieval 2: Total War
Midtown Madness 2
Myst
No One Lives Forever
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Rainbow Six
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Rome: Total War
Pirates! (old)
Planescape Torment
Pool of Radiance
Populous
Quake
Quake II
Sacrifice
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Secret of Monkey Island
SimCity
SimCity 2000
StarCraft
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars TIE Fighter
Star Control 2
Syndicate
System Shock 2
The Sims
Thief
Total Annihilation
Tribes
Ultima 7: The Black Gate
Ultima Underworld
Unreal Tournament
Warcraft 2
Wasteland
Wing Commander 2
Wolfenstein 3D
World of Warcraft
X-COM UFO Defense

 

[Psilon]

Hmm. That's actually a surprisingly decent list. Daggerfall >> Oblivion, of course, and far too many WW2 (and Rollercoaster Tycoon) games, but not bad nonetheless.

I question, however, the choice of Sierra adventure games. Gabriel Knight really wasn't that great, and KQ1 is pretty lame even by King's Quest standards. Yes, it started the series, but the series as such was just random fairy tale puzzles devoid of plot until 3, and 4 is probably the high point of the series. I'd replace those two with Space Quest IV and King's Quest IV. Maybe QFG2 as well--Mafia doesn't really need to be on there.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

Odd that Morrowind isn't on that list in the editoryman's post. That's not the fanboy in me speaking, but it does crop up quite a lot in such things.

 

[Volourn]

L0L Even the extended list doens't have NWN on it. Are they fuckin' dumb? Yup.

And, while I don't care about KOTOR all that much, hwo cna a game they rated 1 billion out of 100 and #4 for the x box not be on the list? HAHAHA! And, no BG1? No Arcanum? Fuck them all.

 

[Drakron]

I disagree ... Mafia is a well done game (outside that stupid racing part) that is not a GTA clone (even if it looks like one at start), it should be on that list.

 

[Muze]

I'm glad SS2 is on there. But where's Outcast? Oh yeah nobody played that. Wait a minute... no Thief? ok I don't really care I guess.

 

[kingcomrade]

Uh, Doom? Fucking Mechwarrior 2 is on the list but not Doom?

 

[Julio]

L0L Even the extended list doens't have NWN on it. Are they fuckin' dumb? Yup.

And, while I don't care about KOTOR all that much, hwo cna a game they rated 1 billion out of 100 and #4 for the x box not be on the list? HAHAHA! And, no BG1? No Arcanum? Fuck them all.

They didn't put NWN on the list because it hasn't aged well. They only gave it positive reviews at first due to hype; now it's crap.

 

[Volourn]

No.

 

[Section8]

From the noms list:

C&C Red Alert
C&C Red Alert 2
ES4: Oblivion
Flight Simulator
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Quake II
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic

what.

 

[peak]

While HL2 is good, it sure aint good enough to warrant all the hype. It got away with things like long transport passages, full linearity, bad weaponry and mediocre AI because of its gigantic name. And a grav gun, the single most overhyped aspect of a game ever. Yes, HL1 should have been on the list instead. It was way better for its time.

Surprised to see SimCity 2000 on the list. I had a lot of fun with that one a few years back though I'm not sure it would be on my list. Starcraft is well deserved, as well. Wait a minute, Age of Empires 2? Wtf?

Other than that, Doom, Quake and Oblbion, a fine list.

edit: Oh yeah, Thief and Outcast as well. I would even opt for Ground Control (great RTS) now that I think about it, but apparently the world has forgotten about it.

 

[Seboss]

Medieval Total War was better than Rome and the new Medieval 2.

Indeed. Less micromanagement, more competitive AI, much better per-province movement system ... Diplomaty and religion are severly lacking in MTW1 though.

 

[Surgey]

L0L Even the extended list doens't have NWN on it. Are they fuckin' dumb? Yup.

And, while I don't care about KOTOR all that much, hwo cna a game they rated 1 billion out of 100 and #4 for the x box not be on the list? HAHAHA! And, no BG1? No Arcanum? Fuck them all.

They didn't put NWN on the list because it hasn't aged well. They only gave it positive reviews at first due to hype; now it's crap.

Yeah, what? I don't see how the KOTOR games are on there and not NWN. I also don't see how Dark Forces 2 is on there, but not Dark Forces. Sure, Dark Forces 2 started the whole "Jedi Knight" series, but Dark Forces started the Dark Forces 2 game! Also, and Everquest has aged well, but not NWN?! So that's why Everquest is on the list?

Also, I really wouldn't put Arcanum on a top 25 games of all time. I'm sure I could find 25 games better than it. But yeah, I don't see why BG1 isn't on there.

Good to see Elite is on there, though.

 

[Annonchinil]

What about Galactic Civilizations II? It's clearly the best 4x game out there.

 

[Psilon]

Annonchinil: Hardly. Don't get me wrong, GC2 is fun, and I'll have to install Dark Avatar one of these days, but MOO2 is still better. Including land-based games, I'd also put Master of Magic and Sid Meier's Civilization above GC2.

Surgey: I like Dark Forces more than Jedi Knight as well, but they're significantly different games. If the IGN folks were thinking of saber combat, Force powers, and more than just spamming the concussion rifle, Dark Forces doesn't belong on the list. That said, Imperial City is one of my favorite levels in early FPS history. More stormtroopers than even a Serious Sam game would include. (Let's not talk about the tiny, tiny fights of Serious Sam II.)

As for NWN, I'll concede that some of the fan-made modules are pretty good, and I've heard good things about HoTU, but NWN as shipped was pretty disappointing, even considering the horde of patches. Bad combat, a painful official campaign, NPCs worthy only of death, and subpar graphics for the time. Quake and Half-Life should be reviewed on their own merits, and that means ignoring ThreeWave CTF, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike, so why shouldn't NWN get the same treatment?

 

[The Dude]

I agree that the long list is somewhat reasonable.

But why Bard's Tale? Sure, it's a classic, but I never understood how some people raise it to the skies. Why Bard's Tale and no Wizardry?

Also, any list not including Operation Flashpoint has the wrong people making it. Lying in some bushes scared shitless, with your whole platoon wiped out and the steady diesel of a T72 circling you is emergent gaming at it's finest.

Also, MOO > MOO2.

 

[elander_]

This crappy list is missing Starflight 1/2 and Star Control: The Urkuan Masters.

Outcast was a hell of a game, together with it's predecessors Flashback and Another World.

 

[Severian Silk]

I lost interest in PC gaming about the time that Outcast was released (I remember downloading the demo). I only regained interest again in the last 4 years (probably the worst 4 years in PC gaming history, too).

 

[DemonKing]

Well, I would like to see a top 25 list of PC *exclusive* games so we didn't end up with console ports being hailed as great games (Oblivion anyone?).

Like any such list, there are things I agree and disagree with.

Personally I loved Rome: Total War much more than any of the other TW games, although that may be more to do with my love of the era than any outstanding achievement in game design.

Also the original HL was miles better than HL2. HL had so many innovations whereas the sequel was just more of the same with an advanced physics engine and outstanding facial animation. Hell, HL2 wasn't even the best FPS released in 2004 (Hello Far Cry).

Also, I neve replayed their #1 game, so I'd have to put something else there.

 

[Volourn]

Oblivion wasn't a xbox port. Nor was it even a xbox 360 port. It was dual system game. HUGE difference.

JE is a console port.

KOTOR is not.

If you can't tell; the difference, you suck.

 

[obediah]

JE is a console port.

KOTOR is not.

Tell that to the postage stamp inventory screen in a sea of unused monitor. You fucking moron.

 

[DemonKing]

Oblivion wasn't a xbox port. Nor was it even a xbox 360 port. It was dual system game. HUGE difference.

If Oblivion isn't a console port then how come I have to put up with ugly low-res blocky distance textures on my unmodded PC version and the unintuitive menu system?

JE is a console port.

KOTOR is not.

Right...because if I were designing a PC game I'd definitely go for the KOTOR inventory system and those zany low-res cutscenes...

I'm assuming that you are claiming that games released simultaneously on PC and console are not "ports" (let's forget for a while that KOTOR didn't come out on PC until a few months after the XBOX version) but rather "Dual-system games" (term copyright Volo 2007).

Frankly I slap the "Port" label on any PC game that suffers from artifical limitations enforced by that program compling with the restrictions of a console game. PC is my platform of choice because I don't like those restrictions - which is why on a list dedicated to "Greatest 25 PC games of all time" I don't like seeing ports, "dual system games" or anything that wasn't designed exclusively with the PC in mind listed.